Quote:
Originally posted by DWPC:
The alarm setting at 31 lbs for a recommended pressure of 35 psi seems too high. People will simply ignore it. I think it would be more effective if the alarm setting was low enough to visually see the low tire (but not dangerous), and so you'd know you need to get air immediately. 25 lbs maybe? Guess this is what happens when the lawyers define alarm requirements instead of the engineers.
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Problem with that is seeing the low tire. Radials always look low, even to the experienced person, they are designed to bulge at the sides. So, seeing it really low; especially on a high profile tire as the H3 is equipped with, is rough. I would guess that if it appeared low to even an experienced person, it would be below 20 psi.
That's for the experienced person. The non-experienced person wouldn't know if the tire was flat, let alone low.
(Proof with the number of blowouts on the road due to low tires.)
I have decreased mine to 20 psi, and unless you take a good look, they don't look low, and I do consider myself somewhat experienced in what a flat tire looks like. Most of the people, those not on forums like this, are totally ignorant of what a low tire looks like.
I have had my H3 since August, and only once have I had a warning. I really have not heard of any big problem with the sensors or the unit; other than people don't realize the pressure decreases when the temps go down. Looking at warranty on sensors over the years, the warranty spikes in the fall, and all but goes away in the spring. However, the actual failure rate of a sensor per the number returned by the dealers, goes up in the spring, and goes down in the fall.
In other words, the sensors returned in the fall have a lower tested failure rate per number of returned versus those returned in the spring.
This shows two things. One the dealers are replacing sensors for no reason. Two, customers are not checking their tire pressures.
On a Corvette, the sensors will turn on at 25 psi (+/- 1 psi), 5 psi less than recommended pressure (30 psi). The Vette is equipped with run-flats, the H3 is not. The Vette is extremely hard to rollover, the H3 is not.